Brent, the international crude benchmark, fell below $100 per barrel on Tuesday after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reported an increase in Nigeria’s oil production from 1.024 million barrels per day to 1.158 million barrels per day.
According to industry data, Brent fell $7.72, or 7.21 percent, to close at $99.38 per barrel at 7.45 p.m. Nigerian time on Tuesday.
Crude oil production data obtained by OPEC through direct communication showed that Nigeria’s oil production increased by 134 million barrels per day in June 2022, according to figures from the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report for July 2022.
The report stated that Nigeria’s oil production in May 2022 would be 1.024mb/d, but this figure has since increased. However, figures from OPEC showed that the country had produced more crude oil in April this year, as its output at the time was 1.219mb/d.
OPEC further stated that crude oil spot prices rose in June, extending the previous month’s increase. It said higher futures prices and strong physical crude market fundamentals drove the increase, amid higher crude demand from refiners and several supply disruptions.
“The OPEC Reference Basket rose $3.85, or 3.4 per cent, to settle at $117.72/barrel,” the organisation stated in its latest report.
It added, “The ICE Brent front-month increased by $5.54, or 4.9 per cent, in June to average $117.50/barrel and NYMEX WTI rose by $5.08, or 4.6 per cent, to average $114.34/barrel”.
Meanwhile, OPEC dedicated its July 2022 Monthly Oil Market Report to its late and immediate past Secretary-General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo.
It said, “We dedicate this issue of the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report to the memory of OPEC Secretary-General, His Excellency Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, who passed away on July 5, 2022, in his home country of Nigeria.
“He was the much-loved leader of the OPEC secretariat and his passing was a profound loss to the entire OPEC family, the oil industry and the international community.”
Barkindo, before his death, had delivered the Chairman’s address at the just concluded 2022 Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja on the same day he died.
